Should I feel guilty about being paid to do nothing?

Its like I wrote that. You would think getting paid to do nothing is the dream - its soul destroying. Worst part is my manager, who I got their role, insist 9 - 5, no leaving at 16:50. Literally in my old job I did more work in 1 week than I currently do in 3 months. My answer is I'm currently looking at alternatives, if I keep doing this job I will go insane . . .

Why not get a contract gig and work that while sitting around doing nothing?

Get a contract gig wrote:

Why not get a contract gig and work that while sitting around doing nothing?

I usually have something I’m doing on the side; the problem is: most of it isn’t particularly interesting and I really don’t need the money. I was thinking of getting a job as a contact tracer.

I’ve found bringing a book to work is the best way to pass the time, followed closely by napping.

This has been me for the last few years. I was getting ready to venture out into a new gig, but then COVID-19 hit so I stayed put. It really is a soul crushing position to be in. I think a lot of jobs are like this, unfortunately.

Not worry about it.

Make sure to save enough money every month and do some online courses in your "free" time at work to gain more knowledge for your company.

This was my husband and his colleagues for 4 soul-sucking years. Then senior management starting raising flags that the company was devoting resources elsewhere and salaries were frozen. Within the year, my husband and his team of 5 guys had either been let go or left on their own for greener pastures because they saw what was happening.

If you ask them all now, they wish they had left sooner. Corporate America is a really slow, inefficient machine. But I promise you, eventually they figure out who isn’t worth paying to do very little work. Usually they don’t figure it out until the guy is 45-50 and earning a very high salary. Being laid off at 50 sucks. Don’t be that guy.

Are you billing to an internal labor code or do you charge a client ?

Is there seriously nothing you could be doing? Revamping old outdated processes or documenting SOPs?

I’d do that before going to mgmt saying there’s nothing to do. You could also say you’d like to be involved in more and ask for more work.

I’d do both of those before saying there’s nothing for you to do.

Lots of companies arnt looking to make a ton of staffing hirers right now other than to cover for attrition (which should be way lower now than normal)

I work in an IT PMO and am incredibly busy since COVID hit. We’ve been operating 50% over capacity since early April.

Bored Beyond Belief wrote:

Should I keep mouth shut and keep cashing the checks?

You get checks to cash? Do you work for Century20 insurance?

Read Bullshit Jobs by the late David Graeber. Know you're not alone!

I am in the same boat as you, and have been for a few years. I have reconciled myself to it for now, but I make the most of it. I wake up early and workout. Buckle down and get my work down in an hour or two, and then spend the rest of the day pursuing other interests. I kind of look at it as a grad school/research assistant thing.

FWIW I had this problem at an old gig too, I thought the issue was the company. In reality I think most corporate jobs are just makework. People seem to have a tough time accepting that, which is why I think you see (in part) people throwing so much of themselves into these gigs.

I don't know, just gotta make the best of it. It may be soul-crushing but we're the lucky ones. Weird world.

At some point the company will realize how much time is being wasted and job security will be an issue. I would stay sharp and learn new skills and keep your resume up to date.

I thought this thread was one of Greg’s. My bad.

Sorry, nothing to add.

I was in this position years ago and although you'd think it would be brilliant, it was awful and it affected my mental health.

I felt a huge amount of guilt because of where I felt the funding should've been spent and it could have been used on so many different things. It would have saved lives in other areas.

I tried to make the most of the time by learning Spanish, reading interesting articles, learning things online but it felt like being in a doctor's waiting room for eight hours a day.

I started walking out and leaving my door open and no one noticed. I took long walks along a canal. I am not going to list the other things I did but I did go off site.

Then I tried to think of it in terms of how lucky I was, I wasn't doing a manual labour job that was wrecking my body etc.

If there is a way to change things without jeopardising your job I'd do that. Or read that French book on how to work the least and see if there are any better ideas.

#metoo wrote:

Its like I wrote that. My answer is I'm currently looking at alternatives, if I keep doing this job I will go insane . . .

Would you mind posting your job vacancy once you move to the new job? I’m currently poorly compensated for my do-nothing job with no hope of a raise. Thanks!

You've just described 80% of government workers' daily routine during 95% of normal times.

step 1: keep your mouth shut

step 2: look for other jobs with more satisfaction for you whatever that means

step 3: once you have an offer tell upper management how much $$ is being wasted

step 4: tell them you have another offer and use as leverage to get something you want here. if you don't get it, leave for the other job

I had a job as a spec detailer at Western Electric 47 years ago that falls into that category. I was assigned specs that were estimated to take 3 weeks that I could knock out in 3 days. I'd do crossword puzzles and rewrite stuff just to kill time. It was terrible. It's much better to work hard. I still have the occasional nightmare about my 6 years at the place. I started off in the drafting department (3 years) before being promoted to the engineering department. It also took a while to learn to write the specs fast, so it wasn't the entire 6 years. It was the last year. The last year was boring as h*ll. I finally quit, moved to the city and started driving cab. One of the best decisions I ever made. Driving cab could be dangerous (I was held up twice), but most of the time it was exciting. (Drove the night shift). Wound up owning my own cab and made twice the money I made as an associate engineer at Western Electric.

Teachers literally haven't worked in a year and get full pay, benefits and pension.

You have nothing to feel bad about.

#metoo wrote:

Its like I wrote that. You would think getting paid to do nothing is the dream - its soul destroying. Worst part is my manager, who I got their role, insist 9 - 5, no leaving at 16:50. Literally in my old job I did more work in 1 week than I currently do in 3 months. My answer is I'm currently looking at alternatives, if I keep doing this job I will go insane . . .

Wait, you still go into the office? Even now, with COVID? And are trapped until 5pm everyday?!?! Holy sh!# that is depressing - leave IMMEDIATELY

flumokins wrote:

Teachers literally haven't worked in a year and get full pay, benefits and pension.

You have nothing to feel bad about.

This is literally 100% untrue. I am a teacher and am grateful for having work right now. A lot of teachers have lost their jobs because of the limitations of remote learning. The work is more time consuming and challenging than it ever has been. Let's be clear, this is not heroic, or something like that, but for you to claim that teachers are doing nothing is absurd.